Apparatus for lowering coal and the like



July 12, F. PARDEE, JR

APPARATUS FOR LOWERING COAL AND THE LIKE Filed May 28, 1950 4Sheets-Sheet l awuemto'c I July 12, 1932. PARDEE J 1,866,720

APPARATUS FOR LOWERING GOAL AND THE LIKE Filed May 28, 1950' 4Sheets-Sheet '2 'WJIIIII/IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIWMJIIIIIIIIIIM avwemtoz July12, 1932. PARDEE J I APPARATUS FOR LOWERING COAL AND THE LIKE Filed May28, 1930 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 I/WYQ 1 lil Ill f kq/v/r IZDHFDC'E L/k.

y 1932- F. PARDEE, JR

APPARATUS FOR LOWERING COAL AND THE LIKE Filed May 28, 1950 4Sheets-Sheet 4 Patented July 12, 1932 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE FRANK.PARDEE, JR., OF HAZLETON, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO ANTI-IRAGITEJSEP-ARATOR' COMPANY, OF HAZLETON, PENNSYLVANIA, A COREORATION. OF PENN?SYLVANIA. I

APPARATUS non. nownarne COAL AND THE. LIKE Application filedv May 28,1930. Serial No. 456,365.

This invention relates to improvements in apparatus for handling coaland like mate rials and aims to Provide flexible or extensible meanswhich can be retracted as the material being lowered piles up or accumulates. While not limited thereto the apparatus shown is well adapted forlowering coal from a coal pocket or conveyor to a railway car or from. aretail coal bin to a delivery truck. The device is particularly adaptedto gently lower sized. material with a minimum production of lines. Thisis ofimportance in coal handling because so-called fines have verylittle sale value and commercial grades of sized coal contaminated witha mixture of fines is regarded byv the trade and also by coal consumersas a somewhat inferior product and therefore does not command such agood price as. relatively clean coal stock unmixed with any appreciableamount of fines or small pieces broken from the lumps.

Various forms of spiral chutes and fixed structures having oppositelyinclined runway portions have heretofore been used for the lowering ofcoal. But, these prior devices are not well suited for transferring thecoal from a coal pocket or conveyor to a railway car or from a retailcoal bin to a delivery truck because of the inability to convenientlyvary the point of ultimate deliveryas the pile grows.

The present invention aims to provide ex tensible apparatus which can bereadily retracted as. the lowered material piles up in a railway car orother conveyor. The apparatus is also adapted to be easily appliedvtoexisting coal storage pockets,,conveyors or retail bins with verylittle or no. material alteration to existing parts thereof.

The invention will be fully apparent from the following specificationwhen read in connection with the accompanying drawings and will bepointed out with particularity in the appended claims.

In the drawings 1-. r

Fig. 1 is an elevation showing a portion of a coal pocket havingdelivery apparatus applied thereto embodying-the invention;

Fig. 2 is-an enlarged verticalsectionallview illustrating details ofconstruction; Fig; 3 isa cross sectional view illustrating an embodimentof the invention wherein the extensible chute is suspended from a guidetrack i'nturn supported on a carriage which moves relatively to astorage bin;

' F ig. 4 is asection on line- 4l4 of Fig; 3;

Fig. 5 isa detail view illustratinga portion ofthe flexible-orextensiblechuteg Fig. 6 is asection on'line 66 of" Figs. 2 and 5;

F ig. 7 is a detai-l'view of-a plate such as is used interchangeably forforming the end members of the separate sections of the flexible chute;r

Fig. 8 is a: detail section illustrating a structural modification; v

Fig. 9 is a vie-w illustrating-a modified form of flexible chute;

Fig. 10is a cross section-on line 1010 of Fig. 9;

Figs. ll'to 17' inclusive are views illustrating modified flexible chuteconstructions Fig. 13 being'an elevation from the left of Fig; 12;

Fig. 18 is a somewhat diagrammatic view illustrating a modificationoftheconstruction shown in F ig. 3 wherein a counter-weight and a guidetrack are provided to counterbalance the weight of the extensible chute;

Fig. 19 is detail elevation andF'ig; 20 an enlarged section thereofillustrating amodification Fig. 21 is a diagram of afurthermodificatlon.

Referring in detail first to Figs. 1 to 6 inclusive of the drawings, 10represents a coal pocket having the usual inclined floor 12 and anoutlet chute 14 provided with a suitable control gate 16. Mounted injuxtaposition to the outlet chute of the coal pocket there is a flexibleor extensible chute indicated as a wholeat 18. This chute comprises amultiplicity of sections 20 which are pivotaly or flexibly connected toone another so that they may be successively brought'to positionopposite the outlet chute of the coal pocket so as to receive materialtherefrom. The sections carry supporting projections which are. adaptedto engage a supporting member mounted in juxtaposition to the coalpocket. In the embodiment illustrated, the supporting projections are inthe form of rollers 22 carried by pivot pins 24 which pivotally connectthe adjacent sections 20 with one another. These rollers ride in agroove 26 formed in a guide track or supporting member 28 which issecured to the coal pocket by suitable brackets as shown in Fig. 1.Where the coal pocket has an inclined bottom as shown, the track canconveniently be disposed on an incline substantially parallel with thebottom and its lower end can be curved around as indicated at 30 so asto guide the sections 20 into the proper position opposite the dischargeorifice of the outlet chute 14. The flexible chute is connected at itsupper extremity by means of a cable 32 with a power actuated device suchas an electric hoist 34 or the like.

Each section 20 of the flexible chute includes a pair of oppositelyinclined runway portions 36 and 38 over which the coal or other materialto be lowered is adapted to travel in a zig-zag or sinuous path so as tolessen its rapidity of flow under the influence of gravity. As clearlyshown in Fig. 2, the runway portions 38 at the right side of thesections 20 are provided with extensions or upright portions 40. Theseserve to prevent the oncoming material, from the outlet chute 14, fromoverflowing. In operation of the apparatus shown in Figs. 1 to 6inclusive an empty railway car such as shown diagrammatically in Fig. 1at 42 will be positioned below the chute 14. The flexible chute will belowered so that the bottom-most section barely clears the floor of thecar. The gate of the discharge chute 14 will then be opened and the coalpermitted to gradually descend in a zig-zag path over the oppositelyinclined runway portions 38 of the several sections 20. As the pilebuilds up in the car the hoist will be operated at intervals so as toperiodically raise the flexible chute and thus successively bringdifferent sections opposite the discharge outlet of the coal pocket.Inthis way, the pile can be gradually built up in the car withoutpermitting the lumps of coal to drop any such great distance as would belikely to cause breakage or production of unsaleable fines. The car ofcourse can be moved longitudinally at different intervals to stack thecoal along different parts of its length. Thus by manipulation of theflexible chute a uniform loading of the car can be easily secured.

In the loading of delivery trucks in retail coal yards a somewhatsimilar arrangement can be readily supplied. However, retail dealers maynot require a separate loading device for each out-let chute of the bin.I, therefore, propose to provide an arrangement whereby a singleflexible lowering chute may serve a plurality of discharge chutes fromthe retail bin. Such an arrangement is illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4.This bin 10 is provided with a lurality of fixed discharge chutes 14". oserve these several chutes, I provide a single flexible discharge chute18 which is carried by a guide track 28. This guide track is suspendedfrom suitable brackets depending from a. carriage or traveller 44 havingsupporting rollers 46 which ride in channel guides 48 secured to thebin. As thus arranged it will be clear that the flexible delivery chute18 can. be positioned opposite any selected one of several dischargechutes 14 merely by moving the carriage along the tracks 48. In thearrangement of Fig. 3, which is particularly adapted for retail coalyards, the flexible chute is preferably raised and lowered manuallychiefly to save expense of installation of electric hoists such as usedin the larger coal pockets which handle a greater'volume of material.It, therefore, becomes desirable in the arrangement of Fig. 3 to providecounter-balancing means to minimize the labor involved in manipulatingthe extensible or flexible chute. ering the chute, I may provide in theconstruction of Fig. 3 a common type of differential or so-call-edgeared block 50 which is suitably supported from the carriage 44. Thisblock is connected by means of a cable 52 to the uppermost section 20 ofthe flexible chute as shown.

For counter-balancing the weight of the parts, I provide a longextensible spring 54, one end of which is connected to the uppermostsection 20 of the chute, the other end of the spring being secured to aspring anchorage 56 extending outwardly from the carriage 44. With thisarrangement, it will be understood that by pulling the hand chain 58, ofthe differential block in the proper direction, the sections of theflexible chute can be retracted, the spring 54 serving as acounter-balance. If desired, in some cases the geared block may beentirely dispensed with, the spring being strong enough to pull back thesections 20 when the operator exerts a slight lifting effort on thevertically disposed chutes.-

Instead of using the spring counter-balancing means of Fig. 3, I mayemploy a weight such as shown at 60 in Fig. 18, this weight being ofcircular form and adapted to roll on a track having a vertical portion62 and an inclined or curved portion 64. The weight will be connected bya cable 66 which is secured at 68 to another cable 70 connected at 72 tothe end section of the flexible conveyor. The cables 66 and 70 pass overa suitable guide sheave 74. By exerting a pull in the direction of thearrowhead P, it will be understood that the lowermost section of theflexible conveyor will be elevated. At the same time, the counter weight60 will descend along the vertical part 62 of the guide track.

For raising and low- After-a number ofthesections of the flexibleconveyor have been lifted to horizontal: position, where they aresupported by a, guide track like that. shown at 28 in Fig. 3, thecounter-weight will reach the dotted position shown in Fig. 18 on theinclined part of the track so as to exert a gradually decreaspull on theconveyor as the successive sections thereof come into horizontalposition on the guide track 28.

The design and construction of the sections of the flexible conveyor maybe varied to suit particular conditions or to simplify the production ofthe device from a manufacturing standpoint. Various forms ofconveyorsections are illustrated in detail in Figs. 5 to 17 inclusive.

In the construction of Figs. 5 to 7 each conveyor section 20 includesend members made from a plurality of duplicate punchings or plates 7 6such as shown in Fig. 7 The plate 76 when turned over will appear asshown at 78 in Fig. 5. The two plates inclicated at 76 and 7.8 in Fig. 5are riveted..welded orotherwise secured to one another as shown in Fig.6, the rivets being shown as an illustration of one form of fastening.These two plates 7 6 and 7 8 jointly constitute a single end member forthe conveyor section. The inclined runway portion 36 has a flange 37which is adapted-to be riveted or otherwise secured to the plate 76. Theinclined runway member 38 has a similar-flange 39 which is adapted to beriveted or otherwise secured to the plate 7 8. The plates 76 and 7 8 areperforatedat 82 for the reception of the pins 24 which connect theadjacent sections 20 with one another. As thus arranged, it will beunderstood that from the standpoint of manufacture a great number ofidentical or duplicate plates 76 and78. can be punched out andsecured toone another as shown in Fig. 5 so as to cheaply form the chute section20. In the modification of Fig.

8- the plate 7 6 may be formed with a flange 77 to receive the runwayportion 36*. With such flanged arrangement, a duplicate formation ofparts can also be followed, it. mere-- ly being necessary tobend theflanges 77 in opposite directions to form rights and lefts.

Fig. 9 illustrates a construction wherein a flexible chute section 20comprises a pair of end members 84 each formed of one single piece andhaving oppositely inclined runway portions 86 and 88 secured thereto.these portions having flanges 87 and 89 which are riv eted or otherwisesecured to the end members 84 as shown.

In the modification of Fig. 11', I show end members 90 flexiblyconnected to one another by links 92, the end member'scarryingoppositely inclined runway portions 94 and 96.

Figs. 12 and 1.3 show a modification in which oppositely inclinedrunways 98 and 100 are formed integrally with end members 99 and.101,fithe end members being flexibly connected by pivots 102. In thisarrangement every alternate pivot 102 will prefer gular end plates 106having oppositely inclined runway portions 108 and 110, the several endplates being connected by pivot pins 112 adapted to carry rollers asshown in the other figures. Fig. 15 shows an arrangement quite similarto -Fig. 14 except that the runway portions. 110 are curved inwardly anddownwardly.

Fig. 16 shows a modification in which a transversely curved inclinedrunway portion 114 is carried by flanges 116 formed at the lowerextremities of end members 118.

In the modification of Fig. 17 the end members 120 of the conveyorsection are pivotally connected by pins 122. Each end member 120 carriesat the left an inclined runway portion 124. At the right, each endsection. carries a substantially angle-shaped member 126' the portion128 of which forms a runway and the portion 130 of which-serves toprevent the material traveling in the flexible section from overflowing.

For preventing flexible sections of the chute from catching orinterfering with the fixed feed chute 14, I preferably provide a guidechute or deflector 132 which extends downwardly and away from theflexible chute asshown in Figs. 1 and 2. This deflector may be formed ofbars or a similar plate bent to form- In either case they are bolted toany fixed structure. For example, it may be secured directly to theunderside of the outlet chute 14 of the coalpocket as shown.

It is desirable to restrict the flow of coal or other mater al at theoutlet end of the low ering chute. This restricted flow can be securedby so forming one or more sections atthe lower end ofthe separator thatvthe flow area is less than that of other sections. As indicated Fig. 13,this reduction of area may be secured by fastening fillers 134 to one ormore of the lowermost sections of the flexible chute. A similar resultcould be secured by gradually decreasing the width of some of thesections. Such a restriction of the cross sectional area of the spacethrough which the coalflows at the delivery end of the chutecauses thechute to fill up. And the material travels" in a substantially con.-tinuous unbroken stream. This is desirable because it prevents separatepieces dropping one at a time from one runway section to the other.

In the modification illustrated in Figs. 19 and 20,1the runway sectionsare formed of side plates 1 -4 of the shape shown. These carry anglebrackets 186-,which support inclined runway members 138which are bentover at 140 to form transversely extending stiffening flanges. Theseflanges are also adapted to guide the moving stream in its downward flowand to prevent spillage. Opposite the runway portions 138, there arecomplementary runway members 142 having upward extensions 144substantially the same as those shown at 40 in Fig. 2. The runway member142 is carried by a flange 146 bent inwardly from the side plate 134,the parts being riveted or otherwise secured.

Referring to Fig. 21, the length of the inclined runway portions may bevaried by providing bent over portions of different lengths as indicatedin dotted lines at-148, 150 and 152. In practice, when the lower end ofthe runway is bent over at point 148, the chute will be suitable forhandling egg size coal, when bent over at 150, it will be suitable forstove size coal. For nut coal, the length of the runway will be slightlygreater, the flange being bent over as indicated at 152. For handlingpea coal, or buckwheat, the runway will terminate at 154. Thisarrangement permits the use of the same pattern of runway for all sizesof coal from approximately four inches down to buckwheat size. Thetransverse width of the runway as the distance between the side platesof the conveyor sections can of course be varied to suit the differentsizes of the coal handled or to suit the rate at which it is desired todischarge the coal. Flanging over the lower ends of the runway at thepoints indicated at 148, 150 and 152 prevents spillage of coal over thepoint 156 of the next lower runway section. Such spillage is of courseto be prevented in order to avoid the undesirablebreakage.

While I have described quite specifically various details of theembodiments of the invention herein illustrated it is not to beconstrued that I am limited thereto since various changes andmodifications maybe made by those skilled in the art without departingfrom the invention as, defined in the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. An apparatus for lowering coal and similar material comprising a binor pocket having an outlet and a flexible chute including a series ofrunway carrying sections flexibly connected with one another and adaptedto be successively positioned adjacent said outlet, and a guide forsupporting the sections shaped to change the direction of travel of saidsections with relation to said outlet, said sections having means whichride on said guide.

2. An apparatus for lowering coal and Similar material comprising a binpocket having an outlet and a flexible chute including a series ofrunway carrying sections pivotally connected directly with one anotherand adapted to be successively positioned adjacent said outlet, a guidetrack for said sections carried by the bin, and means for pulling thesections along said track, anti-friction supports carried by saidsections adapted to be guided by said track.

3. An apparatus for lowering coal and similar material comprising a binor pocket having an outlet and a flexible chute including a series ofrunway carrying sections flexibly connected with one another and adaptedto be successively positioned adjacent said outlet, each sectioncarrying a supporting projection and a supporting member for coactionwith the supporting projection of the several sections.

v4. An apparatus for lowering coal and similar material comprising a binor pocket having an outlet and a flexible chute including a series ofrunway carrying sections flexibly connected with one another and adaptedto be successively positioned adjacent said outlet, each sectioncarrying a supporting roller and a guide track for coaction with saidrollers.

5. An apparatus for lowering coal and similar material comprising a binor pocket having an'outlet and a flexible chute including a series ofrunway carrying sections hingedly connected with one another supportingmembers on said sections and means coacting with said members forguiding said sections in juxtaposition to the outlet of said bin.

6. An apparatus for lowering coal and similar material comprising a binor pocket having an outlet and a flexible chute including a series ofsections adapted to receive material from said outlet, means forflexibly connecting the several sections, means for movably supportingthe sections adjacent the bin, means for moving said sections and meansfor counterbalancing the weight of the sections to facilitate theirmovement.

7. An apparatus for lowering coal and similar material including aflexible chute comprising a plurality of separate sections, each sectionhaving a pair of end members, runway members bridging the space betweensaid end members, pivot pins connecting the end members of adjacentsections, supporting rollers carried by said pivot pins and a guidetrack along which the rollers travel.

' 8. Apparatus for loweringcoal and similar materialcomprising aflexible chute including a series of runway carrying sections connectedwith one another'with freedom for relative angular movement and a trackadapted to alter the angular relationship between one or more sectionsof the chute, each of said sections having means for engagement withsaid track.

9. Apparatus for lowering coal and similar material comprising aflexible chute including a series of runway carrying section s hingedlyconnected with one another, a supporting member, and means carried bysaid sections adapted to be guided by said supporting member.

10. Apparatus for lowering coal and similar material comprising aflexible chute including a series of runway carrying sections hingedlyconnected with one another, a supporting track having one portiondisposed at an angle to another portion thereof and means carried bysaid sections adapted to be guided by said track.

11. Apparatus for lowering coal and similar material comprising aflexible chute including a series of runway carrying sections hingedlyconnected with one another, a supporting track and means carried by saidsec tions adapted to be guided by and travel along said track, and meansfor pulling successive sections into supporting engagement with thetrack. 7

12. Apparatus for lowering coal and similar material comprising aflexible chute including a series of runway carrying sections flexiblyconnected with one another, a guiding and supporting track, and rollerscarried by said sections adapted, to successively coact with thesupporting track.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto signed my name.

FRANK PARDEE, JR.

